Install Windows 7 or Windows Vista on a Pc Without DVD Media

For user who doesn’t want to waste a DVD disc to burn the ISO to physical media, and does not have WinPE (Windows PE) startup disc, here’s a workaround method to install Windows Vista and Windows 7 into physical computer’s hard disk drive or partition (volume) directly with ISO without writing or burning to disc. The without-disc installation method is useful especially during beta and RC period of new operating system in the making, where the new build and new versionis launching and publishing every now and then. This tutorial guide assumes that the new Windows 7 or Windows Vista will be installed and replaced the original existing operating system currently installed. The instructions can be modified slightly (mainly on hard disk partition used) to fit into need of readers who want to have a dual-boot, multi-boot, or simply just to upgrade install to new OS.

1. Install a virtual CD/DVD drive on existing Windows operating system.2. Mount the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation DVD ISO image using the virtual drive.3. Copy all files inside the virtual CD/DVD drive mounted with the ISO into any folder on any partition or hard disk drive not going to be used to install the Windows OS. For example, copy into E:\Windows7.4. Copy the bootmgr and boot folders nested inside the copied folder (i.e. \Windows7) to root directory of system boot drive, typically C:\.

Note: For Windows Vista, users may need to use this step: Copy the bootmgr folder from E:\Windows7 to C:\ root directory, copy E:\Windows7\boot\boot.sdi file to same folder in C:\boot folder, and then copy bootsect.exe from the E:\Windows7\boot\ folder to C:\ drive.

Note: boot folder in system boot drive is hidden system folder.5. Create a new folder named sources under the C:\ root folder.6. Copy the boot.win file inside \Windows7\sources folder to the source folder created in the system boot drive, normally C:\.7. Open a command prompt as administrator.8. Run the following command (change the C to your drive path letter if applicable):

C:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:

For Windows Vista users who copied bootsect.exe to C:\ root folder, use the following command instead:

C:\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:

A successful message is the command completes successfully.9. Change the name or label of the boot system partition local disk to BDCP or any name you prefer that easier to remember and type (in DOS command promot, use label command).10. Restart the computer.11. After booting up, the system will start the corresponding Windows installation process. Select the applicable language to install, time and currency format (regional settings locale) and keyboard or input method in the installation wizard dialog.12. On the next screen, user will be presented with option to Install Windows. DO NOT press on Install Windows button, instead, click on Repair My Computer link on the bottom left corner.13. In the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) System Recovery Options dialog window, click on Command Prompt to open a DOS Prompt window.14. Run the format command to format the primary hard disk or partition to clean state:

format c: /q

Note: /q switch, which perform quick format can be omitted to full format. And if existing hard disk partition is of FAT32 filesystem format, use format c: /q /fs:ntfs to convert the file system to NTFS while formatting. Before formatting begins, the command may prompt for hard disk drive or partition label name, if so, enter accordingly (i.e. BDCP).15. After format completed, start the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation process again by manually running the setup.exe located in the copied. Note that the setup.exe is not the one located on boot system drive which copied at later step, as the boot drive has been formatted. For example:

E:\Windows7\sources\setup.exe16. Continue with installation procedures by following on-screen instructions as per normal practice.

Above link shows what the process looks like, and a how-to, as it loads to the Repair Options.

Neosmart contains the contents of the Windows Vista DVD\'s "recovery center," as we\'ve come to refer to it. It cannot be used to install or reinstall Windows Vista, and just serves as a Windows PE interface to recovering your PC. Technically, one could re-create this installation media with freely-downloadable media from Microsoft (namely the Microsoft WAIK kit, a multi-gigabyte download); but it\'s decent of Microsoft to make this available to Windows\' users who might not be capable of creating such a thing on their own.

Download the Windows Vista startup disk .ISO file. A .ISO file is a "disk image" file, meaning that it is a compressed archive of all the files that would normally be found on a CD contained in one simple file. Microsoft does not provide users with an official Windows Vista startup disk. Because of this, a number of services online provide their own for users free of charge. Download the .ISO (see Below) file to your computer's desktop. http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/download-windows-vista-x64-recovery-disc/ Put a blank DVD in your computer's DVD writer. Open your DVD burning program. As long as your program can burn .ISO files, you can use any software you'd like. Burn the .ISO file to a DVD by selecting the "File" menu, clicking on "Open" and locating the .ISO file from your hard drive. Next, click the "Burn" button in your DVD burning software and the files contained in the .ISO will be burned to the disk. Label your Windows Vista startup disk with a pen or marker and keep it in a place where you won't lose it. If your computer is damaged to the point where you would need a startup disk, you won't be able to use your computer to make one. It is very important that you do not lose this disk.

Download the Windows Vista startup disk .ISO file. A .ISO file is a "disk image" file, meaning that it is a compressed archive of all the files that would normally be found on a CD contained in one simple file. Microsoft does not provide users with an official Windows Vista startup disk. Because of this, a number of services online provide their own for users free of charge. Download the .ISO (see Below) file to your computer's desktop. http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/download-windows-vista-x64-recovery-disc/ Put a blank DVD in your computer's DVD writer. Open your DVD burning program. As long as your program can burn .ISO files, you can use any software you'd like. Burn the .ISO file to a DVD by selecting the "File" menu, clicking on "Open" and locating the .ISO file from your hard drive. Next, click the "Burn" button in your DVD burning software and the files contained in the .ISO will be burned to the disk. Label your Windows Vista startup disk with a pen or marker and keep it in a place where you won't lose it. If your computer is damaged to the point where you would need a startup disk, you won't be able to use your computer to make one. It is very important that you do not lose this disk.

Put all 3 downloaded files (namely install.wim, boot.wim and an
executable X13-49120.exe) in the same folder (for this tutorial, let’s
assume the files are put on C:\ else you need to modify the path
accordingly).

Run the X13-49120.exe executable. Windows Vista Setup Preparation
will create a new folder “Vista” inside the folder and will populate
the folder with all necessary Vista setup files which takes up about
2.52 GB disk space.

Open a command prompt shell, and run the following command:
cdimage.exe -lVISTA_EN_DVD -m -u2 -bC:\Vista\boot\etfsboot.com C:\Vista\ C:\Vistax86.iso
Bootable Windows Vista x86 DVD ISO image in UDF format will be created as vistax86.iso in C:\ or any folder you specified above.

Burn the newly create ISO with a CD/DVD burning software such as Nero or Alcohol 120%. Try to burn at low speed (i.e. 4X) and turn on verification to ensure that the DVD creation is fine.

Visit here for illustrative guide on using CDImage GUI version to make the bootable DVD ISO.

In the command prompt window, run the following command:
oscdimg -bC:\Vista\boot\etfsboot.com -h -u2 -m -lVISTA_EN_DVD C:\Vista\ C:\VistaDVD.iso
A VistaDVD.iso UDF DVD image will be created and can be used to boot the computer from DVD to install Vista.

Burn the ISO image file by using last step above.

Visit the guide to create Vista bootable DVD using vLite.
Note: For 64-bit Windows Vista, download etfsboot.com and put it into “\Vista\boot” folder. Or users
using WAIK (WinPE), the etfsboot.com can be found at
%Programfiles%\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\boot\ folder. So simply
replace -bC:\Vista\boot\etfsboot.com with -bC:\Program Files\Windows
AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\boot\etfsboot.com when making 64-bit Vista DVD
image.